Facebook to Simplify Messenger

Facebook Messenger is getting a makeunder.

In a Tuesday blog post, Facebook Messenger Head Davis Marcus admitted that the app has "become too cluttered" as of late.

"Over the last two years, we built a lot of capabilities to find the features that continue to set us apart. A lot of them have found their product market fit; some haven't," he wrote. "Expect to see us invest in massively simplifying and streamlining Messenger this year."

Marcus didn't offer up any specifics as to how Facebook plans to pare down the app. He did, however, say Messenger get more visual messaging options this year, additional group chat features, and new ways to interact with businesses. The company also plans to "continue investing in real time communications" features, like voice and video chat, to help people stay connected via Messenger.

At this point, some 1.3 billion people use Messenger every month, Marcus wrote. In 2017, Messenger users sent more than 500 billion emoji, 18 billion GIFs, and had 17 billion video chats. Businesses have launched more than 200,000 chatbots on the platform.

Meanwhile, Facebook last month released a version of the Messenger app for kids. The Messenger Kids iOS app can be installed on a child's Apple smartphone or tablet, but controlled from a parent's Facebook account. The company also recently added support for 4K photos.

News of the impending Facebook Messenger overhaul comes after Snapchat in late November announced a major redesign, which will separate content from friends and content from publishers, as part of an effort to make the app easier for newbies to understand.

:story: PC Magazine